You know what a rock in the middle of the street is? A good place to sit and practice a new instrument. Clearly nothing to be concerned about--if Jokers are truly capable of being concerned about anything whatsoever.

What is concerning--to Cynric and therefore the entirety of the world nearby him--is that bows are clearly the spawn of a demon and ( Read more... )

Slim pickings at the market today, Briony thought as she wandered out of the stalls on the Green and in the general direction of her house in the Club section. Not a surprise, really; it had been that way since the borders locked up. There'd been an initial panicked run on foodstuffs when the news had spread, and since then, they were limited to ( Read more... )

Avery surreptiously slipped her shoes off and flexed her feet - hours in heels last night, being subject to Cynric's every whim (and Cynric had interesting whims) had done a number on her feet, and she'd like to just be soaking them while she read a book. But there was always work to be done, wasn't there? She'd ordered the event planning staff to ( Read more... )

It's not so strange to see October in the Green. It's where she spends most of her time, after all, when she's not in school or the library. Even in the winter, she's out there, lying under a tree with a book or sitting on a bench staring pensively into the distance with an intensity only a teenage girl could manage. No, that's not the strange bit ( Read more... )

She'd been up late, the night before, wrapping all the presents she hadn't gotten started on before, and now there was a small pile in their rooms - for Victor and Chives - and Zoe had a shopping tote full of presents for everyone else in one hand. A few had been handed out already, but for the last few minutes Zoe had been paused in front of the ( Read more... )

Jack of Spades. That's going to take some getting used to. Maybe it was slightly less demeaning than being called a number, even though he's had plenty of time to get used to that. But he has a feeling that they'll change his name from Michael to Jack whether he likes it or not ( Read more... )

There will be an election, yes.With the King and Queen understandably preoccupied with the current problems in the Deck - and frankly, Avery's more than concerned herself - it falls to the other two Diamond Faces to keep everyone calm with Business as Usual. And it's December, which means Business As Usual means the lavish winter celebration they ( Read more... )

Usually, Cynric finds it his life's work to bring songs to people. But hell if this isn't a season of everyone generally bringing songs to themselves and others. Which means there's loads and loads of free time for a Joker to be setting things on fire.

Now, to be fair, these are things that are totally supposed to be in fire ( Read more... )

She finally went to the outposts to see a Ten of Clubs and have quiet words with him. Words that left her in a boiling red rage, and forced her to clench her fists to keep from slapping him ( Read more... )

"What do you mean, they're not working? Bloody outposts have been there forever!"

Thank God for old-fashioned land lines; there's something satisfying about slamming down a receiver that a mobile just can't top. Doesn't mean he's not still stuck on Deck when he'd scheduled a trip back home to escape the cold pick up fresh produce you can't get this ( Read more... )